Stimulated by a request from our friends at Google, I plotted enrollment in UW CSE’s introductory course (“CS-1” — called “CSE-142” at UW) over the past 4.5 years. We offer this course every quarter (that is, four times a year); I plotted a 4-quarter rolling sum of course enrollment to smooth the data. (In other words, each point on the graph shows total enrollment during the most recent four academic quarters.)

The results show a dramatic growth in total enrollment, and an even more dramatic growth in the enrollment of women — both of which are important for the health of the field.

Want to know what computer science is like? See the terrific videos and other information here!